Best stargazing apps for iPhone and iPad

Prepare for the biggest cosmic events of the year with these stargazing apps.

There’s been a lot of buzz around the water cooler about events happening in the sky above. Whether you’re looking for a meteor shower, searching the night sky for a comet, or getting the low-down on where to watch the solar eclipse, these are the best apps for stargazing.

Star Walk 2

Star Walk 2 uses location tracking and your phone’s gyroscope to show you what’s in the sky using augmented reality. Point your phone up to see which stars, planets, and constellations are floating above you. Point your phone downward to see what’s in the night sky on the other side of the planet. When you tap a star, you can read up on on more details and check out a 3D model of the celestial body. If you check out the Live Sky feature, you can see what time the sun and moon will rise and set and the current elevation of our closest planets.

If you’re looking at a star, planet, or nebula and want to know what it might look like from a different angle, the 3D rendering makes Star Walk 2 a stand-out stargazing app.

Sky Guide

Sky Guide, design-wise, is a lot like Star Walk 2, but features deep satellite tracking information. If you’ve ever looked up at the sky and see something that looks like a star slowly moving across the sky, you can use Sky Guide to find out what satellite is hovering overhead. Sky Guide has been updated to include specific details about the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. Tap the info button to see what time the eclipse begins, how long it lasts, and how much of it will be visible to you in a specific area. Sky Guide also has a time travel…